ODEBOLT, Ia. — In this small northwest town, a school merger vote this fall grew so ugly and rancorous that residents complained of bitter gossip, and even threats posted online: They know where you and your mother live.

The Odebolt-Arthur and Battle Creek-Ida Grove school districts have been sharing resources for years: Their children attend middle and high school classes together, and the districts split key positions such as the superintendent.

But a plan to fully merge the two districts went too far for Odebolt and its 1,000 residents, who voted for the second time in six years against merging with larger Battle Creek-Ida Grove. Merger opponents fiercely protective of their community argued that Odebolt could have lost its school — devastating the struggling town.

"We're better than those son-of-a-guns" in Ida Grove, said Gary Gritten, a retired truck driver. "They'll close our school, and we'll have a hell of a time. … It just might well dry us up and blow us away."

But the acrimony and ill will stirred up by the merger vote has left the Odebolt-Arthur district and its 340 students in the same precarious position facing so many small districts: Financially, it can't make it on its own.

As shrinking Iowa school districts navigate their second or third consolidation with nearby towns, anti-merger campaigns have magnified local rivalries and animosities in the fight to keep their schools open and preserve their towns' chances of survival.

The resulting political maneuvering, as each community tries to gain the upper hand, often leaves behind bitter resentment.

"This may be a precursor to what's to come in Iowa," David Else, a professor emeritus from the University of Northern Iowa. "It's going to become more prevalent."

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"Our school election was just like the federal election," said Gary Gritten, a retired truck driver who lives in Odebolt. "We've got riots around here, just in the neighborhood."(Photo11: Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register)

Digging in their heels

In the last 50 years, Iowa's 458 districts have reorganized, largely voluntarily, into 333 districts.

That consolidation is expected to accelerate under a Republican-controlled Legislature that has been eager to cut taxes and limit funding increases to public schools, according to education experts who have studied consolidation.

"I think the small school districts with low enrollments are the ones that are most vulnerable," said state Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames. "But all districts have something to fear."

But in some districts, merger discussions have resulted in broken relationships. Officials in the Odebolt-Arthur and Battle Creek-Ida Grove districts dug in their heels after the merger vote failed in September.

At a school board meeting, leaders of the larger Battle Creek-Ida Grove district ended a sharing agreement with Odebolt-Arthur in order to renegotiate it, a move that some Odebolt residents saw as retaliatory.

Odebolt-Arthur leaders responded by saying they'd rather have a different district for a partner, prompting Ida Grove residents to say good riddance.

"Our school election was just like the federal election," said Gary Gritten, a retired truck driver who lives in Odebolt. "We've got riots around here, just in the neighborhood." Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register

Hank and Bev Jessen stand inside the now-closed Battle Creek High School on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. They purchased the building for $500 and would like to create a community learning center to teach skills like welding needed by local business. Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register

Hank Jessen stands in front of the now-closed Battle Creek High School on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. He and his wife purchased the building for $500 and would like to create a community learning center to teach skills like welding needed by local business. Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register

Closing Iowa schools

If a merger succeeds, the new district of OABCIG would encompass what was once four districts along this stretch of Highway 175.

Each originally served its own town: Battle Creek to the west with about 700 residents; Ida Grove, the largest of the four, with about 2,100 people; to its east Arthur, with 200 residents; then Odebolt, with 1,000.

In 1956, Odebolt and Arthur merged, and in 1994, Battle Creek and Ida Grove did the same. Eventually, each closed a school, first in Arthur, and more recently in Battle Creek, a decision that still has residents stewing.

"It was wrong," said Ed Campbell, a retired farmer. "You lose a school, you lose part of your town."

The most "irritating" part, Battle Creek Mayor Lloyd Holmes said, was the decision to sell the 40,000-square-foot building and 7 acres for just $500.

"It's still one of the best buildings in the town," Holmes said. "When they closed this building, they had to build one at Ida Grove — twice now."

Hank Jessen and his wife, Bev, purchased the building three years ago and are lobbying Western Iowa Tech to open a vocational program there. Teaching welding or other technical skills would bringing a new kind of school to Battle Creek, they said.

But that effort has stalled, and the building is used only occasionally now. A local church teaches taekwondo in the former band room, and community gatherings are held a few times each year in the gym.

Jessen said he's frustrated, but he is hesitant to move forward with other plans, such as converting the 28 classrooms into assisted living.

"If you can educate people here," he said. "They're more likely to stay here."

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Hank Jessen stands in front of the now-closed Battle Creek High School on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. He and his wife purchased the building for $500 and would like to create a community learning center to teach skills like welding needed by local business.(Photo11: Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register)

Rural challenges abound

The Battle Creek school's closure has cast a long shadow over the two districts, particularly in Odebolt, where residents fear they could one day lose their school as well.

Those feelings have been hardened by what many saw as a particularly nasty merger campaign.

"It feels more like a takeover than a merger," said area resident Dorothy Evans, who wrote letters to the local paper criticizing the measure.

Several merger advocates declined to speak to the Register, citing fragile progress on their side. Already, there are petitions circulating for another vote.

If it fails, though, new terms between the districts will take effect that will put even greater financial strains on Odebolt-Arthur.

"The funding is not there to remain small," said Stacy Raasch, a member of the Odebolt-Arthur school board. "Unfortunately, we have to get bigger and bigger to stay competitive."

Smaller districts have proportionally higher costs, such as for transportation, putting strain on other parts of their budget. They also tend to offer fewer classes.

On average, a district with 2,500 students has 121 units of study. But that shrinks to 71 units for districts with 600 to 1,000 students, and 51 units for districts with fewer than 300 students, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

"The bigger concern is: Are students getting equitable education?" said Mary Ellen Miller, who sits on the Iowa Board of Education. "As you eat into the general fund money to pay these transportation costs, one of the trade-offs is offering as wide a curriculum."

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The Iowa rural schools museum is located in a one-room schoolhouse in Odebolt.(Photo11: Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register)

A tentative future

At one time, Iowa leaders were actively campaigning for school mergers to help push them through.

But with school funding challenges, enrollment declines and increasing academic requirements, campaigning has been less necessary, said Timothy Gilson, also a professor at UNI.

Small districts are feeling the pressure, and their only choice is to join with their neighbors, either through a sharing arrangement or a consolidation, he said. "It's getting worse."

Without special funding for rural districts — some are lobbying to offset high transportation costs, for example — mergers and school closures are expected to continue, or even accelerate.

“I don’t think anyone feels that that is a good solution," said Miller, the state board member. “It will be a continuing depopulation of our rural areas, and that impacts, very seriously, the local economy."

Some fear Iowa's small-town schools eventually could go the way of the one-room schoolhouse, which used to dot the countryside every four square miles.

In 1964, Iowa had 4,000 districts, many of them independently run schoolhouses. But they started closing after a law requiring them to attach to nearby towns, and by 1967, they were gone.

One schoolhouse near Odebolt was converted for sheep and pigs. Recently, the community rallied to restore it, paying to move it to town as a museum.

Decades ago, the district sold off its desks, books and globes, so residents riffled through barns and attics for items to donate. The museum now welcomes schoolchildren on field trips, as well former students, who recall the personal attention they received.

"You kind of hold your breath, as your schools get bigger," said Carol Raasch, a retired teacher and museum volunteer who voted for the merger. "In some ways, you wish for the old days."